Climate and vegetation. – This great variety of landscape significantly affects the climate, both by tempering with the height (one third of the island’s surface is above 600 m.) The excesses determined by the geographical position, and by creating contrasts between mountains and plains, between coast and internal, between beaten areas and areas sheltered from the winds. The average annual temperatures at sea level oscillate between approximately 240 and 280, with minimal differences (rarely more than 10 °) during the day and monthly excursions that remain within even lower values (from 3 ° to 5 °), the ones and the others tending, as it seems, to become accentuated as one proceeds towards S. If we are talking about seasons, this is essentially due to rainfall, for which quantity and distribution vary considerably from place to place, so that, while there are mountainous districts with abundant rains in each month (over 2 m. a year), locally it drops below 400 mm. nodded (Azúa), and even six or seven months went by without a drop falling. Overall, the rainy season runs from November to February, in relation to the NE trade wind.; therefore the most favored provinces are the northern ones, decreasing the amount of precipitation towards the W and SW. Sheltered from the breath of these currents, the central plains of the island are affected by excessive drought, which determines the development of the savannah and xerophilous associations in the valley floor, while the slopes of the mountains are covered with luxuriant forests. We thus pass from the humid tropical regime, to arid forms reminiscent of the Mexican deserts:
Of the various types of forest of which, despite the unconscious deforestation, the largest part of the island is still cloaked, that of conifers, which develops largely on the slopes of the high internal Cordillera, is, from an industrial point of view, the most important: the Pinus occidentalis clearly dominates it, constituting an unparalleled reserve larger than in Cuba. However, the other species of woods also contain numerous species required on the market, such as Phyllotilon brasiliensis, Swietenia mahogany, Chlorophora tinctoria, Xanthoxylum flavum, Bursera gummifera, Cedrela odorata, Bombax pyramidale, Brya ebenus, Guajacum officinale, Rhizophora mangle, etc., and on the whole cover a surface at least triple that covered by conifers. Even more important, in the current economy, tropical and subtropical plants, indigenous or introduced by man, among which sugar cane, coffee, cotton, tobacco and cocoa form the basis of trade with foreign countries., while the place occupied by other cultures appears relatively modest, such as Fr. ex. those of cereals (rice and corn), of legumes, of forage crops, which however find conditions favorable to their development almost everywhere.
Fauna. – According to Neovideogames, the fauna is composed of elements characteristic of the Antillean sub-region of the neotropic region. Mammals are scarce, but among these some bats are peculiar; a family of Insectivores, the Solenodontids, is well represented with forms common to the Cuban fauna. Carnivores and Ungulates are missing. Among the rodents the Octodontids are noteworthy with many species common also to South America. Among the Sirenids we note the presence of Manatids. The Toothless and Marsupials so well represented in South America are completely lacking in Haiti.
The avifauna is rich in forms with many species of Passerines, Piciformes, Raptors, Coraciformes, Palmipeds, Gallinaceai, etc. Among the Reptiles, interesting species of Ofidî and Lacertilî are noted. The Anuran amphibians are represented by some species and the urodeles by species of the gen. Spelerpes, which is also found in Palaearctic fauna. Various species of freshwater fish, together with numerous terrestrial and freshwater gastropods and numerous arthropod species, complete the picture of the fauna of the island of Haiti.
Livestock. – The breeding, which could represent the fortune of many internal patches not usable by the plantations, has only drawn notable values locally (S. Domingo): the current conditions are then in relation to the generally rather backward degree to which the agricultural technique has remained firm.
